My in-laws were hit by a car crash. I called my husband, begging him to give me some money to pay the hospital bill.

He said, "Oh, if you want money, just come out with it. That excuse is terrible!"

He hung up on me. Despite how unfair it felt, I had to call him again. This time, a voice I was familiar with hit my ears. A woman's voice.

"Chris, I got a bit too much sunscreen on my hand. Can I smear the rest on your abs?"

Lovingly, my husband said, "You little troublemaker."

His parents died that night. Overseas.

Cheating Man

More than two weeks had gone by since my in-laws' deaths. I could not leave their remains behind, but Christopher Grayson refused to take my calls or even come home. I had to handle the paperwork myself and deal with the cremation.

I remembered distinctly about the thing they told me one day before they met their demise. They wanted to pray to God so Christopher and I would be blessed with a child. Instead, death now separated us. They were lying in coffins, while I stood beside them.

I had no idea why this happened all of a sudden. I had no idea why Christopher would go no contact with me for so long. This was his parents, for God's sake!

And then something rustled. He was home. I raised my head only to be met with the frail childhood friend of Christopher's. Yvonne Wood.

She was wearing my sleepwear, and her neck was covered in hickeys. The sight alone nearly made my eyes hurt, and my stomach churned.

"Chris and I have been waiting for you. Did you have fun? I got takeout. Want to share?"

Christopher was standing beside the dining table. He didn't even give me a single look.

The bastard let Yvonne wear my sleepwear and messed around with her while his parents were dying. I refused to think about the things they did in our bedroom. It would push the bile up to my throat.

I was going to the bathroom, but Yvonne got in my way. "Don't get mad at Chris. He's busy and has no time to relax. I wanted him to let his hair down, so I asked him to join me on a vacation. You can't shop around every day if he doesn't work for it."

She was too close to me. My personal space was invaded. The stench of her perfume shot straight up my nose. That was it. I threw up. She moved back, but the vomit hit her anyway.

"Disgusting," Christopher said. First thing he said to me in half a month. He refused to tell me why Yvonne was in my pajamas. He didn't even ask me what I'd been doing. He didn't even care that I threw up because I was sick.

But in times long past, a single frown alone would've gotten him all worried. He'd ask me again and again if I was fine. Then he fell out of love with me. I couldn't remember when that started, though I knew it wasn't recent.

I met his eyes. Cold. Indifferent. Yes, I expected it, but it still hurt my heart. "You call me disgusting? That's my line, Christopher."

"Can you drop it already? I came back, didn't I? Just as you wished."

"Chris only joined me because I had a breakup, Josephine. Don't get mad at him."

"Don't apologize to her. She's crazy. This shouldn't even be an issue, but she has to turn it into drama."

Christopher was defending her, metaphorically and literally. How asinine. I grabbed the urns and stood up. "Your parents' ashes. Settle them somewhere. And I want to get a divorce."

"My parents? For all I know, that's just some random urns you got from the streets. And a divorce? Are you mad?" he mocked as he threw the urns away like they were cheap knockoffs.

"All I did was not sleep with you, and you snitched to my folks? They're playing along with you, aren't they? I know you want a baby, and you're mad because your plan failed. If you had been honest with me, I'd have given you a child."

Honesty? Now he was calling me dishonest? Seriously? Did this man know no shame?

The bastard spent millions on his childhood friend on our anniversary. He told me he was working overtime when he was at an amusement park with Yvonne. He lied and lied again for her. He abandoned me time and time again for her.

This marriage was meaningless. Perhaps at some point it wasn't, but things had changed. It was time to end this.

Calmly, I said, "We're getting a divorce. I'll move out so you guys can have more space for yourselves."

Yvonne wanted to say something, but Christopher stopped her with a dark look. Then he turned to me, his eyes never leaving me. Slowly, he said, "Another divorce threat? If you so much as leave this house, we're done. I won't keep you around."

I nodded and left the house as he wished.

For some reason, Christopher felt defeated, but he pushed that feeling down. My parents died a long time ago. He must think I would return to him, since I had nowhere else to go.

Keepsake Destroyed

I found a spot to rent and went back to the villa to grab my stuff. Also, I served the papers to Christopher. He signed them without even looking, but when I tried to take them away, he pinned them down on the desk.

"If my parents find out we're divorced, they'd be livid. They might even have a heart attack."

Yeah, that was proof he did not believe my story at all. He probably stuffed his parents' ashes in a dark corner somewhere.

"If you're trying to say they might die if they find out about the news, you're a bit too late. They're already dead. I gave you their ashes, and where did you put it?"

"And I told you to stop spewing nonsense, Josephine!"

"And you are unbelievable," I snapped.

"No, you're unbelievable, Ms. Chandler." Yvonne placed a phone before Christopher. "Mrs. Grayson left a like on someone's status yesterday. If you really want to get Chris' attention, then apologize right now. Stop finding excuses for your terrible lies."

I was close enough to see the screen. The like was left the day before. Yet I saw Christopher's parents' bodies pushed into the furnace. This should not happen.

"Ms. Chandler, I only treated you like a sister out of respect for Chris. I never thought you were a good wife for him, nor have I ever recognized your marriage. You'd spin lies about his parents' deaths just to get what you want. What are you trying to do, really?"

Please, like my marriage needed her approval to function. She thought highly of herself. Too highly.

"I'm trying to bind you two together. I suggest you see a doctor. Perhaps there is nothing but air inside your heads. I reckon that is quite the serious predicament."

Then, I turned to Christopher.

"You believe everything she says. You're supposed to be the CEO of a publicly-traded company. I presume you have a phone. You can ask your assistant to verify my story."

"So what about this? Mr. and Mrs. Grayson's phone got stolen?"

They got into that car crash overseas. For some reason, we did not find her phone among their belongings.

Christopher said, "You only married me for money. The divorce will not get you a single cent, I promise you that."

"Oh, and I promise you you can keep all your money. Why marry me if you think so lowly of me? You were the one who couldn't stop getting my attention. Guess a change of heart does change your attitude."

Christopher always thought everything I did was out of a place of malice. He never believed a single word I said.

When I went upstairs to get my luggage, a frustrated Christopher asked, "You came with nothing. What are you even trying to take? I'm already kind enough to let you leave in those clothes. They're more than you can afford."

I clenched my fists and ignored him. There was something I had to take. My parents' belongings.

"Hey, something smells smoky. Is that the trash the janitor's burning?" Yvonne pinched her nose in disgust.

She would never say a word that failed to hit me where it hurt the most. This could not be good.

I hurried into the backyard only to be met with fire. Within the flames were my parents' belongings, including the necklace my mother bought me when I was ten. The last birthday gift she got me.

I ran ahead in a desperate attempt to salvage their belongings, but Yvonne stopped me on purpose. "You can't. You'll be burned." She smiled at me with venom and darkness. My haggard self fueled her mockery of me.

"It's nothing but trash. Why do you stop her? She obviously treasures them."

When we were still in love, Christopher said that my parents' belongings were the final pieces of them they left to me. Now, they were trash to him.

Just when I was about to get the necklace, Yvonne fell into the fire. Christopher shoved me away and pulled her out of the fire in a hurry. He held her in his embrace.

My head slammed into a stone. The pain shot across my body, and my mind was buzzing. Everything around me was ringing, and the world turned into a blurry mess.

Yvonne held up her burned arm and acted like it hurt more than murder. "It hurts. I just wanted her to stay away from the fire, but she pushed me away." She started crying.

"It's alright. I'll take you to the hospital." Christopher scooped her up. Before he left, he told me coldly, "I thought you were only a liar at most. Now I see your true colors. You're an evil witch. You tried to burn her alive."

Pregnant

I could not hear anything. The servant had been standing by our side, wondering if she should step in. I stretched my arm into the burning pile.

My blood drenched the world in a worse crimson blur. It took me some rummaging around to find my necklace.

Alas, it was made of plastic and was disfigured horribly. Still, I clenched it as tightly as I could, even if the scalding heat covered my hand in blisters.

The ten-year-old me called herself a princess because she wore the necklace. The adult me? This was the only link I had to my parents, and it was destroyed right in front of my face.

I had no idea what happened to Christopher or what made him change. I had no idea why he refused to leave me, even when he no longer had any love for me. I would never cling to him anyway.

Nor could I ever figure out why Yvonne did not marry Christopher, even when she had feelings for him. Instead, she chose to get into a situationship while torturing me at the same time. Was this some sort of fetish I had no idea about? I wondered if I was their living toy.

I really wanted to leave the land I was raised in, with the signed papers in my hands.

Every step I took blurred the world around me more. I wiped the blood away in an attempt to clear my sight. It did nothing.

…

When I woke up again, I was met with a familiar face.

We stood in the hospital's corridor, and he presented me with a report. "You looked terrible. If I weren't on my way to work, some unlucky driver would've crashed into you. And I can't believe you had no idea you were pregnant."

Nathaniel Mayfield. My old schoolmate from the class next door. He used to be my suitor, but the guy stopped contacting me after I went out with Christopher. So this was where he worked.

It was awkward to be seen in that form, especially by someone I knew. I had no idea what to say to him, so I thanked him and paid him back for settling my bill.

"What are you doing?"